BMC assures doctors of complete CCTV coverage, central control room with 24/7 monitoring

MUMBAI: The BMC on Tuesday instructed administrators of civic-run hospitals to ensure complete CCTV coverage of the hospital premises, including a central control room with 24/7 monitoring. Directions to the chief security officer included ensuring proper lighting in areas such as canteens, hostels and common rooms.
The indefinite suspension of non-essential healthcare services, meanwhile, entered its eighth day.
The civic body’s instructions were given following a meeting between a delegation from BMC-Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) and additional municipal commissioner Abhijit Bangar to discuss various demands such as security arrangements, CCTV systems and crowd management at patient-testing areas.
The delegation also demanded rooms to be assigned for on-call resident doctors and clean, well-maintained facilities. Bangar asked the hospital authorities to address these issues. He also said that strict action would be taken against hospital staff if duties meant for nurses and ward boys were done by the patient’s relatives, saying this was unacceptable.
Highlighting the importance of security measures, which included regular audits of security personnel and a quick response during untoward incidents, Bangar also reiterated the need to train security staff and called for strict enforcement of protocols to make sure that neither security guards nor hospital staff indulged in inappropriate behaviour.
“We can’t just sit and watch the doctors protesting,” he said. “Until their demands are met by the central authorities, we can at least consider their demands that are under our jurisdiction. For now, we’ll try to do whatever is possible from our side.”
Meanwhile, a silent protest was held at Shivaji Park by resident doctors and medical interns, who marched with candles demanding justice as well as the implementation of the Central Healthcare Protection Act. “All we have been given is verbal assurances,” said Dr Mayur Wakode, vice-president of BMC MARD. “We understand that implementing the act cannot be done in a day, but we can at least be given a written assurance. Therefore, we are continuing our protest.”